Too bad the Kindle was not a good fit for you. I found the ergonomics works perfectly fine. Even my 8 year old daughter had no problem using it after 5 minutes. No device is going to please everyone. I live in a rural area and Whispernet reception is no problem, actually better than my phone. The contrast is about the same as a paperback but you don't have much choice because all the 6" devices pretty much use the same vizplex screen. Personally after having the Kindle I would not go back to reading with LCD screens.

I also always use the Kindle in its original cover. The only issue I have with it is due to the silly on/off switches being on the back so it's not really the covers fault. Otherwise it functions perfectly and gives plenty of places to hold on. I've had it since February, use it every day, and have had no issues with the elastic wearing or stretching out. Perhaps I got the best one they ever made?

How often do you mess around with the switches? I have only ever turned off the Kindle one time. Period. Once! I keep the antenna switch off so I don't have to remember to turn it off when I get onto an airplane. I don't use the Kindle for an Internet appliance, so the only time I absolutely need to turn on the antenna is when I've chosen a sample from Amazon. Anything I can purchase can be downloaded to my PC and then transferred to the Kindle via the USB cable.

We have two threads going on the same topic - Kindle likes and dislikes. I just responded to one on the other thread as well, detailing my Kindle likes/ etc.

I too have problems with the Whispernet except for receiving books from Amazon. Very slow for any other internet access and trying to buy a book from the Kindle is impossible unless I have previously downloaded a sample chapter or set up a wish list. Even that, however, takes three tries or four tries.

I whole heartedly agree with keeping the Kindle in its cover - impossible to hold without the cover and the cover is definitely very clever. Still keep bumping the wrong side buttons (driving me nuts) but I've only had my Kindle for three days. Hoping that I can get used to it.

Absolutely love the technology of an ebook reader. Travel more than 100 days per year and love getting rid of all that extra weight dragging along my books.

Really? Does your kindle show as registered on the about page? Perhaps the wrong s/n was entered when you bought it. If you buy a book at the Kindle store via a PC browser does it get sent to your device via whispernet?

BOb

Yes, actually, I purchased a whole bunch of books while my Kindle was enroute to me, and it arrived with all of them ready for me to read.

And, today, when I pushed the Kindle Store button, I actually got the Kindle Store. The past (two??) days I just got a message saying the Kindle "could not connect" to the store. This, although I could get online to view Wikipedia and such just fine.

I don't know why it was. The funny thing was, I was just telling my friends "now, usually, you would just click here and the store pops up ... but I don't think this works ..." and, there it was. Maybe the book just did that to make me look foolish. I'll probably never know.

We have two threads going on the same topic - Kindle likes and dislikes. I just responded to one on the other thread as well, detailing my Kindle likes/ etc.

I too have problems with the Whispernet except for receiving books from Amazon. Very slow for any other internet access and trying to buy a book from the Kindle is impossible unless I have previously downloaded a sample chapter or set up a wish list. Even that, however, takes three tries or four tries.

I whole heartedly agree with keeping the Kindle in its cover - impossible to hold without the cover and the cover is definitely very clever. Still keep bumping the wrong side buttons (driving me nuts) but I've only had my Kindle for three days. Hoping that I can get used to it.

Absolutely love the technology of an ebook reader. Travel more than 100 days per year and love getting rid of all that extra weight dragging along my books.

Heck .... I just love that I can pop it in my mini pack and take it everywhere with me. Sometimes I'm in a really loooong check out line at the store, or the pharmacy says it will be 15 minutes for my prescriptions to be filled (and they really mean 2 hours and 15 minutes), and before I would be quite bored waiting. Now, I just pop my Kindle out, and start reading a book.

That's heaven for me. Especially since it's smaller and lighter than some of my paperbacks.

I had it out at Wendy's today (grabbing a bite to eat), and I actually drew a crowd. They wanted to see it work, to know who made it, and where they could get one. No one blanched at the price ... especially when I told them that they could just order books, from the computer if need be, and have them beamed to the book for no "beaming" cost ... just the cost of the book. Then, when I told them about all the free or dirt cheap classics that were out there, and the World Library .... and they saw how nice and crisp the text is ... and that they could change the size of the fonts.

I would not be the least shocked to hear that six people out of that group purchased Kindles today.

Amazon was having some quirky outage problems for a few days after the big one. Maybe the timing of your connections just hit at the wrong time.

It's possible. I suppose I'll find out over time. But, you know something? It doesn't really bother me. As I was telling my neighbors today ... ninety percent of the time I'll be buying my books on the PC and sending them to the Kindle. The only time I really use the Whispernet is for Wikipedia when I simply HAVE to find out some bit of trivia.

I'm one of those "I can't sleep until I know ......." But it's a real pain to find a computer to use when you are out and about.

It's possible. I suppose I'll find out over time. But, you know something? It doesn't really bother me. As I was telling my neighbors today ... ninety percent of the time I'll be buying my books on the PC and sending them to the Kindle. The only time I really use the Whispernet is for Wikipedia when I simply HAVE to find out some bit of trivia.

I'm one of those "I can't sleep until I know ......." But it's a real pain to find a computer to use when you are out and about.

In the morning, around 9-11AM PST, for a few days Amazon was pretty much down. That must have been it. In the afternoons it was fixed.

It's possible. I suppose I'll find out over time. But, you know something? It doesn't really bother me. As I was telling my neighbors today ... ninety percent of the time I'll be buying my books on the PC and sending them to the Kindle. The only time I really use the Whispernet is for Wikipedia when I simply HAVE to find out some bit of trivia.

I'm one of those "I can't sleep until I know ......." But it's a real pain to find a computer to use when you are out and about.

If you are using Wikipedia you may find it useful to use site compression discussed on this thread because the default bookmark on the Kindle for Wikipedia was so cumbersome that I found it almost unusable. I love Wikipedia and with site compression it is a pleasure to use now on the Kindle.

I must say I'm also shocked at the slow speeds. My house is a black hole for wireless. I use Sprint for my mobile provider as well. My Kindle consistently has more bars and better performance than my phone. My books download in seconds...{snip}

FYI, your Sprint cellular PHONE service is completely separate from EVDO. The voice portion is on 900mhz and the data side is 1900Mhz. Which is why you might see a different signal and get different connection results.

In the case I had the reason of the slow speeds was the Kindle was not connection at EVDO but rather the fallback 1xRTT mode. There is significant bandwidth differences between the two.

I do know it was the Kindle itself because I happen to use EVDO Rev A. as a mobile broadband solution. Which luckily allowed me to see if there was a tower issue (not unknown as I am sure ya know...) and my Franklin CDU680 EVDO modem connected at it's normal fast speeds of 1.2Mbps or higher in a very stable fashion. Of course I tested from the same locations.

My initial suspicion was the battery is bad. Usually it is the Tx portion of the Rx/Tx equation that causes problems. But I had no knowledge how to access the diagnostics modes on the thing and, to be honest, don't feel I should have to try and fix something I buy new. Hacking no longer hold much interest to me anymore...

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To everyone in general...I want to say I LIKE the device but it's the execution and the hype where it falls flat. I really do like it but due to some of the issues I mentioned, I cannot use the Kindle and will be sticking to my Nokia N800. I tend to be sort of blunt in evaluations because that is the only way to help explain why I feel something is good or not so good. (You should read what I think when something is truly dismal just ask Dell about the last Inspiron I bought 4-5 years back...what a POS.) Anyway, my comments often that comes across as negativity about something if people are not used to reading my evaluations. So, I do want folks to know I think the Kindle is the right direction. Of all the features the built-in EVDO might be the single most significant as it opens the device to so many other features. The book delivery is genius...if your Whispernet works properly.

The Wiki stuff is super fun too, but I can already do the same with my mobile broadband setup plus have full web access, in color. So, it is nothing earth shattering. And that is my point, there is nothing groundbreaking about the Kindle. In a way it is like making your customer buy the shopping cart they use to shop in your store...and making them need a different cart for each store. But that part is due to the pesky DRM issues as well as the copyright/licensing issues which are for the most part out of even Amazon's control. I only see things improving over time, and I think sooner than many people think given that it's now in publishers interest to all but eliminate paper books as energy costs grow exponentially. Electrons are cheap, paper production overhead, as well as inks and the energy needed to run presses probably have increase 3x in the past few years....which is why many CEO types are now suddenly looking as if they love ebooks. OOPS, wrong rant...hehehehe....

As for my preference for a touch screen...I just like them better. Granted the touch enabled displays do have their issues also...everything is a trade off. Perhaps were the navigation buttons arranged differently I might be OK with the lack of a touch screen. I just know that when using the thing I quite frequently would just brush up against a button or even press it for an extended period resulting is having to find where the heck I was last reading. This is where my thoughts of a rear mounted hand strap would help me A LOT. Basically the Kindle would lay flat in my hand with the strap not only securing it, all but eliminating my problem with squeezing to hold the thing (mind I can no long fully close my hand into a fist w/o pain and stiffness) which causes the discomfort. By eliminating the stress associated with holding the device I would not need to change hand position near as often ==> less accidental button pushes.

BTW, know I am far from a neophyte in terms of understanding how a device works and adapting to it's quirks in a short period. For me I know if I like a device in the first 30-45mins or less.

So NOW is you wanna LAUGH...my better half was pouting when I told her I had the Kindle but was sending it back, see she is out of town visiting her dad, has to go to a wedding she is dreading and needed something to perk her up...so, I sent the Kindle up to her figuring, well, KNOWING we would be now be keeping the thing, if for no other reason than I just bought a new Canon 40d with a bunch of lenses and such. So, the thing (Kindle) will be around for the duration...when she gets home I will call Amazon and see if perhaps we got a bad antenna or EVDO card. Given my distance (or lack there of) from the tower there should be zero issues with dropped connections or reverting to 1xRTT.

FYI, to my thinking, keeping the Kindle and using it in the case defeats the entire purpose of a small portable reading device, the Kindle easily fits in my pants pockets which I did like. But as I can no longer hold a paperback open to read, no chance I am going to hold the case flap open. Personally I don't think it needs a case for other that transportation to protect the display. I am not sure how I might modify the thing because I like the fee of the rubber back. Maybe someone can make a replacement rear panel that increases the thickness for people like me, that back plate could also incorporate an adjustable hand strap too.

Here is the back of a hands free case for the TabletKiosk Sahara i440D:

While that specific design does not work for the Kindle as we need access to the buttons, something similar makes holding the thing MUCH easier.

Build wise as I said this thing is a very sold device. Though I would have preferred a Mg-Alloy case over the plastic which was used. Then again, as the drop test video shows it is a pretty darned STRONG plastic.

I do know she is enjoying reading with it because I keep getting emails about new books "I bought" for the thing...hrmmmmphhh...

Still for me it is not the right device. I suspect none of the current devices would work. I already knew for sure the Sony is too thin. Plus it's a Sony and I have promised to never buy a new Sony device again. But no matter what I try next it won't be until after CES this year at the soonest. We just do not know what the life-cycle of the Kindle will be. Most companies run an 18-month cycle, especially small device and laptop mfg's. Some are even shorter. I am hoping to see something new either around CES which is before the holiday season or in Q1 2009 in time to soak up tax refund checks.

No matter that the Kindle does not fit my needs nor do I feel it truly delivers on it's promise. I have to grant for a Gen1 device, it is not bad at all...but we won't be buying another one anytime soon. And if it were up to me I would be returning this one...but anything to keep her out of my hair...hehehehehe...good thing she never reads this place.

Jeez, was I the only one who read the title and thought you were going to rave about the Kindle? If there was an iPhone of e-book readers, I'd be the happiest person on the planet. Never has a product that I so bitterly wanted to hate surpassed my wildest expectations.

The Nokia N95 is better then the iPhone and the N96 is going to be even better then the N95. So there goes the iPhone down a notch and this includes the iPhone2 which is still not as good. So to have the best, it has to be the N96 of eink.

The Nokia N95 is better then the iPhone and the N96 is going to be even better then the N95. So there goes the iPhone down a notch and this includes the iPhone2 which is still not as good. So to have the best, it has to be the N96 of eink.

Not sure if you're in the majority on that one. I find that that the iPhone generally gets more favorable reviews than the Nokia. Here's CNET's wrap up of the old iPhone vs the Nokia N85:

Considering the new iphone has GPS and 3G, I think it wins hands down.